Help me out and win your own pet quilt

I have absolutely no idea if this will work or how much people will get behind me, but I’m asking you to help me out, and I’ll give you something in return 🙂

I confess, I have a weighty credit card bill that is on my shoulders every month and has been for years. Even though it’s on 0% interest right now, the minimum payment is still around £200 ($315) a month. I want rid of it. SO what have I decided to do?

Well I’m asking you to help me. For every £1 you donate to the cause on THIS SITE (and this site only!) you will get an entry into my raffle draw for your own custom, turned edge applique, lap size pet quilt wallhanging of your dog, cat, goldfish, snake, whatever! I will draw the winner when target is reached, so it’s in your best interests to spread the word 😉

For donations of £5 or more (and £5 is the minimum annoyingly, I was hoping it would be £1!), not only do you get 5 entries but I give you this quilt pattern which comes with a table runner variation included…

And for donations of £10 or more you get ten draw entries, the Wallander quilt pattern AND a box of 6 trufflepiglet chocolates (UK only)… assuming you reply to my email with your postal address of course (make sure you check your spam folder just in case).

If you’re not in the UK and you want the chocolates, the donation amount is £15 because of the extortionate postage costs- sorry about that.

So yes, I would be enormously grateful if you donated, or even just shared the link to my GoFundMe page with your friends or Twitter followers. I’ve even made a button you may use wherever if you really want to get behind me.

Please link the button to this link: http://www.gofundme.com/creditquilt

And I will be posting little target posts every now and again to remind you 😀

Thanks everyone!

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Free Paper Piecing Pattern: Daisy Star Block

I drew this up the other day on Electric Quilt. Of course it is unfinished, so the edges will meet the side points. It’s actually quite an easy block to do and consists of four pieces. There are loads of tutorials on the internet for how to paper piece so I’m not even going to attempt to talk you through it as it would be rubbish in comparison, however I will say that to match the four main segments up after piecing the other bits, I like to keep the paper in, trim to an exact 1/4″ seam allowance along the edges to be joined, pin through the layers at the points to make sure they match and then pull out the paper before stitching them together.

For the template, just click here, it’s sized to a 6″ block but feel free to size it to whatever you like!

You will need Adobe Reader to open this file. Go ahead, make this block into quilts, bags or anything you wish, just please don’t sell my actual pattern, cos I’m letting you have it for free…

And because I haven’t shared a picture of my animals for a bit, here’s Fletcher in my sewing room…

PennyDog’s Bumper Jewellery Giveaway

I’m having a big clearout at home because I’m sick of living and working in a dump. None of my craft stuff has a permanent home yet because of financing the garage renovation, so this week is the week it get SORTED, or at least we start to.

I’ve also been entering a lot of giveaways in the blogosphere recently so it’s only fair I offer you one, dear reader! And also it will help me clearout some of the stuff I keep clinging on to…

So here’s the prize….

That’s right, three pieces of jewellery for one lucky winner each representing different times in my jewellery making life, here’s more info about them…

This necklace I made 3-4 years ago with precious metal clay, which means it is 99.9% pure silver (though I have added a patina to it which is why parts look dark). The stone in the middle is a garnet and I remember setting it to be a total nightmare and after shouting at it, my OH set it for me, cos he’s good like that. The chain and jump ring are sterling silver and I still have a tag on it from a fair, priced at £28.

This one is even older, I’ll have probably made it whilst I was at sixth form, or the first year of university. Beadweaving was my thing back then when I was less impatient and time-poor, and this small to medium size bracelet is circular peyote in pink around a memory wire core with a magnetic fastener. I remember magnetic fasteners were really hard to get hold of in the UK at the time- they were the new thing! This was around the time when Bead and Button had to be specially ordered from The States though as it wasn’t readily available in Smiths. The clear embellishments on it are tumbled chips of rock crystal. Shiny.

Last but not least, this piece is about 18 months old and is pretty fabric in resin on a black ribbon necklace. I just randomly selected this from my £12 craft fair display since I don’t sell jewellery at fairs at the moment.

So there you are, three pieces of handmade jewellery retailing at around £50. To enter to win, leave me a comment on this thread before midnight on Sunday 30th and I will draw the winner on Monday 31st October 🙂

W00t! A tute! Distressed Victorian Lace recycled jewellery pendant

It’s about time I shared a tutorial with you. I have a couple of other ones I hope to post relatively soon too…

You will need:
Clear Polyester Gelcoat
Plastic spoon (optional)
Plastic cup
Mixing stick
Mould release spray
Hot pink Pearl Ex powder
Lisa Pavelka “Romance” Texture stamp
Band Saw or Junior Hacksaw
Black pigment inkpad
Drill
Acrylic spray
9mm jump ring
Recycled jewellery chain
Recycled flower dangly earring

Suppliers:
Pearl Ex powder and Lisa Pavelka stamp from the Polymer Clay Pit: www.polymerclaypit.co.uk

1) Prep the texture stamp with mould release spray and leave to dry. Spoon about 4 level teaspoons of polyester gelcoat into a plastic cup and add catalyst as directed.

2) Stir well until it is a beige colour instead of pink and sprinkle in some pink pearl ex powder. Use the stick to mix this in thoroughly to give a pearlised effect.

3) Pour the gelcoat onto the rubber stamp and then level out with the spoon. Leave to set for about an hour- gelcoat sets much faster than normal resin!

4) Pull the rubber carefully away from the resin piece.

5) Cut a rectangle out of the resin sheet. I used a band saw, but you can also use a junior hacksaw if you don’t have one.

6) Apply the ink to the texture on the resin thoroughly and leave to dry for a few minutes before sealing with an acrylic spray.

7) Drill a hole through the top of the piece. Take some old chain from some retro costume jewellery and attach each end to the pendant through a 9mm jump ring. The chain should be long enough that it doesn’t need a clasp. Next, take the earwire off an old costume earring and hand the charm in front of the resin piece. Close the jump ring.

Enjoy!

12 days of Christmas: 12th December

Here’s the last of my Christmas promotions, hope you’ve enjoyed them!

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12 days of Christmas: 9th December

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12 Days of Christmas: 8th December

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12 Days of Christmas: 6th December

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Preview: 12 Days of Christmas Advent calendar

Just to give my readers a heads up, starting 1st December I will be posting up a new offer every day for 12 days (can’t trust international deliveries to arrive before Christmas after this date) in an advent calendar style. These offers include free gifts, percentage discounts, free shipping and money off deals off everything on http://www.pennydog.com, so check back here on 1st December! The offers run on GMT time, from 12.01am until 11.59pm and a minimum order of £5 applies unless otherwise stated.

Giveaway and Make 50: Week 7

Here’s my make for this week- some finished earrings with embedded moss. I will have these at the Remade Fashion Fair this Saturday at the Custard Factory, where I am showing my jewellery made from recycled materials and also found objects.

This week there is a twist to showing off my make- I’m offering it as a giveaway! To enter, leave a comment below linking to your favourite item for sale in the Crafteroo Comic Relief shop which can be found here: http://crafterooshop.folksy.com

The winner will be drawn on 1st March at random. Good luck!